“Abai readings” was held in Switzerland

As part of the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the great Kazakh poet and thinker Abai Kunanbayev, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Switzerland organized “Abaev readings” in a format of an open-air event on June 27, 2020, with the participation of representatives of the academic environment from the University of Zurich, Swiss youth who are fond of Abai, students from Kazakhstan studying in Switzerland, the Kazakh diaspora and friends of the Embassy.

The event was held in the picturesque suburb of Lucerne at the old Meggan Castle, surrounded by the Alps and the famous Lake Lucerne.

In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, this format turned out to be the most acceptable and interesting, because Abai is even better perceived in the open spaces of nature than in the academic walls.

The Ambassador of Kazakhstan Alibek Bakayev noted that “Abai for the Kazakh people is like Tolstoi for the Russians, Shakespeare for the British, Goethe for the Germans, etc. And if the world knows about Abai and his contribution to Kazakh culture and literature, then we can say that Kazakh literature has occupied its important niche in the world of classical literature.”

The Head of the Department of Anthropology and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich, Professor Peter Finke, who speaks Kazakh, is familiar with Abai’s work and just loves Kazakhstan, noted that Abai’s work is of great value to Kazakh literature and history and he is very pleased to attend the event.

The event was opened by Bolashak’s undergraduate program student Alisher Tursyn. He was reading Abai’s work “Paida Oylama, Ar Oyla” in Kazakh, then Adrien Delafontaine from Geneva, continued by Abai’s “Summer” poem in French, and Mehmet Gundogan from Zurich, who recently carried away by the works of Abai, continued the challenge, having read “Asempaz Bolma Arnege” in German, and all the guests of the event finished reading the poem “Kozimnin qarasy” to the accompaniment of dombra.

“Abai readings”, dedicated to the memory of the great Kazakh poet, took place in a very warm and friendly atmosphere, popularized Kazakh literature in Switzerland and left pleasant memories for all participants.